Proverbial Pensées, Part 8 of 31

The writer of Proverbs 8 has chosen personification (attributing person-like qualities to non-personal entities) as the vehicle for issuing the clarion challenge to pursue wisdom. As mentioned previously, wisdom is found in God alone (Prov 2:6; cf. Jm 1:5). Thus, pursuing wisdom is tantamount to pursuing God (though wisdom is not God, God is wise. Cf. Rom 16:27).

Just as opportunity for moral failure lurks everywhere all the time, so too does wisdom stand ready and willing to protect, guard, guide, and redeem us from sin’s lure. Wisdom is ubiquitous, accessible, and no respecters of persons; she avails herself to all (Prov 8:4). If only we look for her, she will be found (Prov 8:2-3). By spending our life pursuing wisdom we’ve nothing to lose and everything to gain. Not one moment consumed during the pursuit will be in vain. Everything secured from our striving will be of immense value as wisdom infuses her virtue into our lives. Truth, prudence, justice, discernment, instruction, knowledge, moral discretion, insight to govern, riches, and honor (Prov 8:5-21); all these abilities (and more) are found and increased when we find wisdom. There is nothing in this universe more valuable than these. They are priceless.

As composer and conductor of the universe, the Lord employed wisdom to bring forth all there is in the material universe (Prov 8:22-29). Wisdom displaces chaos with order; confusion with clarity; aimlessness and vanity with purpose and meaning. It is striking to think this same tool used by God to form the heavens and the earth is available to help us navigate life! No one of sound mind would forfeit the opportunity to take hold of wisdom.

An implied premise throughout Proverbs 8 is: Given that wisdom is found in God alone and that wisdom predates the existence of all things material (humans included), then she does not and cannot naturally reside in nor originate from humans. Wisdom, therefore, must be pursued by humans if it is to be found in humans. This is so obvious but must be said time and time again. GET WISDOM!

Proverbial Pensées, Part 7 of 31

By now one gets the sense that sexual behavior is rather important. Proverbs 7 issues a third warning to avoid sexual immorality (see Proverbs 5 and 6). Sin needs only an opportunity and it seizes every moment and lurks in every corner.

Opportunity to sin involves time and location (Prov 7:8-9). Those with “no sense” avoid neither and inevitably stumble into error. Years ago when traveling to Hawaii on business a few other Christian men and I gathered outside our hotel on the beach one early morning for a time of prayer. One guy asked for prayer that he not “look” or lust after other women while on the beach. I responded “Don’t go to the beach.” In Jesus’s words, “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away” (Mt 5:29). We must not be in harm’s way and give sin opportunity. Even if it means not going to the beach in Hawaii! Avoiding every occasion where we may succumb to sin is the way of wisdom.

Though the woman in this proverb is married and clearly intentional about her adultery (Prov 7:10-21), it is the young man who is held accountable, as the parent makes clear in issuing the warning to the child (Prov 7:25). The point: Regardless of the lure of attraction, everyone is held accountable for their sexual behavior and everyone can avoid the sin of sexual immorality. Otherwise, this warning is unreasonable. To coin a Kantian phrase with a twist “Ought not implies can not.” If you ought not do something, then clearly you can avoid the behavior.

This warning of Proverbs 7 leaves no doubt: Avoid all opportunity to engage in sexually immoral behavior and the probability of committing this sin is zero. Conversely, put yourself in harm’s way and the likelihood of committing the act is greater than zero. Know your limitations and avoid sin at all costs.

Proverbial Pensées, Part 6 of 31

Diligence is the key in which this proverb is sung. Be diligent to free yourself from debt. If you owe someone something, do whatever is required to pay them in full. Otherwise, the debtor remains in bondage to the creditor. From the debtor’s perspective, goods and services received are intended to increase prosperity. Yet, ironically, poverty will be the lot of the debtor, since all energy is spent paying the creditor. Work hard, therefore, to pay the piper and settle any debts owed (Prov 6:1-11)!

“God is love” ( 1 Jn 4:8) but as Prov 6:16-19 makes clear he also hates certain behaviors and those who commit them (see also Ps 5:5). All of the behaviors listed are crimes against the community. They are social sins. And, since “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22:39) is the second greatest commandment, it follows that God takes seriously our sins against others.

One of the behaviors God hates is repeated (“lying tongue” verse 17b; “a false witness who pours out lies” verse 19a). The list begins with six, but parses out the repeated item such that there are seven total (Prov 6:16). It’s also likely that lying is repeated for emphasis because this is especially heinous to the Lord. What we say matters and everyone deserves the truth, unless of course they’ve forfeited their right to the truth because it will be used for immoral gain. This does not mean that lying is an ethical alternative. Silence is an option.

Although body parts are mentioned as culprits responsible for the reprehensible activities God hates (the eyes, the tongue, our hands, the heart, our feet, our testimony), it is the whole “person” that brings the behaviors to a climax (Prov 6:19). It’s as if the proverbial parent is showing us that not one member of our being is immune to offending God, so every member must be brought under scrutiny. Diligence is not merely a heart matter; it must run throughout our physical presence. Whether we see, say, touch, feel, move toward, or imply, all behaviors must tenaciously seek to please God at every turn.

Remaining diligent to follow parents’s wisdom proves helpful in avoiding the pitfalls of foolishness (Prov 6:20-23), particularly the stupidity of sexual immorality (Prov 6:24-35). Although the choice to succumb is entirely ours, the consequences are not. They are inescapable and only ruinous (Prov 6:29, 32). Even the shame and disgrace for doing the wrong thing for the right reason can be overlooked by the community (Prov 6:30-31), but the adulterer finds only disdain and disgrace (Prov 6:32-35). Mercy forsakes him. One has only to wait a few seconds before asking anyone in the Western hemisphere to name a president of the United States who has been unfaithful to his wife. The community may overlook it, but they will never forget it. His wife will both remember and not overlook it. Adultery forever stains the community.

Proverbial Pensées, Part 5 of 31

The initial charm of a new encounter with another can quickly become caustic. What appears enticing may actually be corrosive. That’s the warning of Proverbs 5. First, I want to say this is not just a proverbial saying for men only. While sexual behavior is the object of alarm and men are the targeted readers, there are plenty of other “attractions” that could stand in the place of sex and women are no less intended. Since money, success, power, and pride, along with sexual temptation, all compete for a seat in the theater of the human heart, this is a proverb fit for all. Just as every loving parent warns their children of impending danger, encouraging them to stay far from its path (Prov 5:5-6, 8), so our heavenly Father speaks to us through this earthly father.

Specifically this proverb highlights the exclusivity of sexual behavior; that it must remain within the boundaries of a lifelong commitment (Prov 5:15-19). Paul echoes the same instruction to the Corinthians who instead followed their cultural ideals (1 Cor 7:2–4). Nowhere are biblical texts more clear that sexual intimacy is limited to the bonds of marriage. Not only is sex outside marriage biblically prohibited but there are many practical reasons it can destroy a relationship (see Lee Gatiss’s keen article titled The Issue of Pre-Marital Sex and Marriage and the Public Good: Ten Principles).

Lest we forget, the proverbial parent reminds us that all our “ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all your paths” (Prov 5:21). Hebrews 4:13 puts this in a strikingly sharp manner: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”

Rather than writing with such explicit language on sexual matters that goes beyond the biblical text (as some like Driscoll have done), all one needs to know is that God sees all. This is more than sufficient to govern and guide our choices in sexuality. God’s justice will be fully meted out by the risen Christ who one day will judge the whole earth, believers included. “For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). There will be a moral reckoning where every human motive and behavior is calculated by the all-knowing, all-seeing God of the universe. No one will escape. Thus, discipline can only be our best friend in the area of sexuality (Prov 5:23).

The next proverbial saying takes up this theme again.

Proverbial Pensées, Part 4 of 31

A child’s first voice of authority and coach for life is the parent (whether biological or otherwise). From the time a child first exits the womb and well into his/her first few years, input and instruction is received and lasting imprints are made by those who care for them most. No one escapes this influence in their initial years. Parents repeatedly appeal to their children to “listen,” “pay attention,” “heed” their words (Prov 4:1, 10, 20). While every parent errs, most parents do not err all the time. They do have some things right and it takes only a few years into a child’s young adult years (hopefully sooner!) when they recognize that “father [and/or mother] knows best.” Foolishness (impetuous thought and behavior) is indeed bound up in the heart of every child and it is the primary task of the parent to drive it out by imparting wisdom (Prov 4:1-6).

Every goal achieved, every task completed begins at the starting line. The place to start in the game of life is the focused pursuit of wisdom (Prov 4:7). All of life depends upon it (Prov 4:13, 22). Without wisdom we bring harm to others (Prov 4:14-17), lose the ability to discern our own way (Prov 4:19), and spew perversities (Prov 4:24). With wisdom we gain protection and safety, honor, and unencumbered success (Prov 4:6, 8-9, 12-18). What strikes me most in reading these first four Proverbs is that wisdom is not merely abstract reasoning or theoretical musing. Wisdom looks like something. It is profoundly practical, earthy, material, and tangible. It may begin with the theoretical, but it never remains there. Wisdom reaches its climax in the real world of experience. Given the ROI (return on investment), wisdom indeed is the asset to pursue and the place to start.

I’ve said before that we live from the inside out. How we think and feel matters. Nowhere in Scripture is this clearer than in Prov 4:23: “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Our most cherished values live in the heart, that core of mental and emotional activity, and are expressed in our choices and behavior. Every action is grounded in a belief and motivated by a feeling. Sure we have moments when we act before we think, but predominantly our thought life and emotional state dictates the course of action that we take. The human heart is the command center of our life. From it comes wicked plans (Prov 6:18), pride (Prov 21:4), stubbornness (Jer 13:10), and idolatry (Ez 14:3, 7). The heart also issues forth faithfulness (Neh 9:8), righteousness (Ps 64:10), and purity (Ps 51:10; Mt 5:8). The heart, therefore, must be guarded above all else.